NyQuil

[Brookie]

NyQuil,
by Raymond Carver

Call it iron discipline. But for months
I never took my first drink
before eleven P.M. Not so bad,
considering. This was in the beginning
phase of things. I knew a man
whose drink of choice was Listerine.
He was coming down off Scotch.
He bought Listerine by the case,
and drank it by the case. The back seat
of his car was piled high with dead soldiers.
Those empty bottles of Listerine
gleaming in his scalding back seat!
The sight of it sent me home soul-searching.
I did that once or twice. Everybody does.
Go way down inside and look around.
I spent hours there, but
didn't meet anyone, or see anything
of interest. I came back to the here and now,
and put on my slippers. Fixed
myself a nice glass of NyQuil.
Dragged a chair over to the window.
Where I watched a pale moon sruggle to rise
over Cupertino, California.
I waited through hours of darkness with NyQuil.
And the, sweet Jesus! the first sliver
of light.

[junem]

Good lord. Is that a remember when. I had quite a nyquil habit going at one time. Went through 3 bottles a week. It was like sipping a fine brandyLOL

[Dan]

Raymond Carver's a big deal in my life...

Drinking While Driving

It's August and I have not
Read a book in six months
except something called The Retreat from Moscow
by Caulaincourt
Nevertheless, I am happy
Riding in a car with my brother
and drinking from a pint of Old Crow.
We do not have any place in mind to go,
we are just driving.
If I closed my eyes for a minute
I would be lost, yet
I could gladly lie down and sleep forever
beside this road
My brother nudges me.
Any minute now, something will happen.

Thanks amigo.

[Brookie]

I read "Drinking While Driving" myself last night. Reading NyQuil was kind of a 'step-one' moment for me. Glad y'all related.

Dan, I swear we must be related somewhere way back. Are you absolutely sure you don't have a great, great, great grandfather from Texas somewhere?

[Dan]

My lineage goes back to Ireland and France.
Lots-o-travelers in them there people...

[Brookie]

Scotch-Irish here. Never been exactly sure what that means, except that every few generations a kid or two is born with a vestigial tail.

Should have realized it myself, of course. After all, you are a bumble bee.

[Dan]

The vestigial tail has been a blessing and a hindrance.
Is it like that for you too?

[Brookie]

Mostly I find that it improves my balance when I brachiate across the living room, but it is heck to groom. You'd be amazed how much conditioner I go through.

[Dan]

There are some reputable grooming salons in Texas I hear.

[Brookie]

I don't want you to think my people are unevolved though. We gave up arboreal hooting and chest thumping as a courtship ritual many decades ago. Now we sing "Freebird."

[Gabe]

Originally Posted by Brookie

Now we sing "Freebird."

[Dan]

Raymond Carver is smiling right now.
Yes he is

[Brookie]

As a matter of fact, I think he would have approved of this thread.

[Dan]

Indubitably.